Icy New Year begins with spate of car crashes

Nearly 150 calls were made to the ambulance service in Shropshire today after icy roads and pavements around the county led to numerous car crashes and falls.

The treacherous conditions prompted the West Midlands Ambulance Service to appeal to people in Shropshire to avoid venturing out or travelling unless absolutely necessary.

It came as the Met Office issued a "flash warning" of widespread icy roads and heavy snow in the county.

Between midnight and 11am today, the ambulance service's emergency operations centre received 147 calls for Shropshire, nearly double the expected demand for the period. The majority were for falls and collisions.

A man with back pain was taken to Telford's Princess Royal Hospital after a collision on the B5062 in Edgmond at about 7.40am and a car overturned on the A41 in Newport at just after 8am. No-one was hurt.

In Queensway, Hollinswood, Telford at 8.30am crews assessed one "walking wounded" casualty from a crash who didn't require further treatment.

At about the same time a car collided with a lamppost in Kenwray Drive, Donnington. No-one was injured.

In Newcastle Road, Wharf, Market Drayton, at about 8.30am a community first responder and an ambulance crew treated a boy, 10, who had suffered a head injury. He was taken to Royal Shrewsbury Hospital.

In Bettisfield, near Whitchurch, a man in his 60s suffered a hip injury and was taken to the RSH after a vehicle hit a hedge.

The Midlands Air Ambulance from Cosford attended an accident at the junction of the A4169/Buildwas Bank, near Telford, after a car collided with a motorcycle. A man in his 30s who had suffered a fractured wrist was immobilised as a precaution and was flown to the PRH.

Near Malinsgate police station, Telford, at just after 9.30am an ambulance crew attended after a car had overturned. A woman was taken to the PRH.

At the Stirchley Interchange, on the A442, in Telford, at about 10.10am an ambulance crew treated a woman for shock after a car went down an embankment.

Ambulance service spokesman Chris Kowalik said: "If anyone must venture out, please wear appropriate footwear and wrap up warm."

By Emma Kasprzak